Observation of vortex coalescence in the anisotropic spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4

We present direct imaging of magnetic flux structures over the ab face of the anisotropic, spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4 using a scanning microSQUID force microscope. Individual vortices with a single flux quantum were observed at low magnetic fields applied along the out-of-pane direction. At intermediate fields, the direct imaging revealed coalescing of vortices and the formation of flux domains. Our observations imply the existence of a mechanism in this material for bringing vortices together overcoming the conventional repulsive vortex-vortex interaction.     

Superconducting gap structure of spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4 studied by thermal conductivity

To clarify the superconducting gap structure of the spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4, the in-plane thermal conductivity has been measured as a function of relative orientations of the thermal flow, the crystal axes, and a magnetic field rotating within the 2D RuO2 planes. The in-plane variation of the thermal conductivity is incompatible with any model with line nodes vertical to the 2D planes and indicates the existence of horizontal nodes. These results place strong constraints on models that attempt to explain the mechanism of the triplet superconductivity.     

Anisotropic superconducting gap in the spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4: evidence from a Ru-NQR study

We have investigated a gap structure in the spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4 through the measurement of the 101Ru nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate (101)(1/T1) down to 0.09 K at zero magnetic field. In the superconducting state, 1/T1 in a high-quality sample with T(c) approximately 1.5 K exhibits a sharp decrease without the coherence peak, followed by a T3 behavior down to 0.15 K. This result is in marked contrast to the behavior observed below approximately 0.4 K in samples with lower T(c), where T1T is a constant. This behavior is demonstrated to be not intrinsic. We conclude that the gap structure in Sr2RuO4 is significantly anisotropic, consistent with line-node-like models.     

Theory of the spin-triplet superconductivity in Sr2RuO4 based on perturbation approach to three-band Hubbard model

We investigate a mechanism of the spin-triplet superconductivity in Sr₂RuO₄ by solving Eliashberg equation for three-band Hubbard model, where the effective pairing interaction is expanded perturbatively up to the third order with respect to the Coulomb integrals and the transition temperature is estimated numerically. The most significant momentum dependence of the effective interaction for the spin-triplet p-wave superconductivity does not originate from that of the spin susceptibility, but is brought by the third order vertex corrections. The results show that the p-wave pairing state is stabilized for not so strong inter-orbit couplings.     

Gap structure of the spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4 determined from the field-orientation dependence of the specific heat

We report the field-orientation dependent specific heat of the spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4 under the magnetic field aligned parallel to the RuO2 planes with high accuracy. Below about 0.3 K, striking fourfold oscillations of the density of states reflecting the superconducting gap structure have been resolved for the first time. We also obtained strong evidence of multiband superconductivity and concluded that the superconducting gap in the active band, responsible for the superconducting instability, is modulated with a minimum along the [100] direction.     

Vortex structure in Sr2RuO4

The vortex structure in p-wave superconductors is investigated by the Bogoliubov–de Gennes theory on a tight-binding model. We calculate the temperature dependence of the electronic state at each site in the vortex lattice state, and show the difference between sin p_x+i sin p_y-wave and sin p_x−i sin p_y-wave superconducting state. Furthermore the relation of the electronic structure and the site-dependence of the nuclear magnetic relaxation time is also discussed.     

Sr2RuO4的热电势

Sr2RuO4是第一个无CuO面的层状强关联氧化物超导体.测量了9至260K温度范围内Sr2RuO4的热电势,观测到在此温度范围内其热电势为正值.用两种载流子模型对实验数据进行了拟合,并且与Hall系数的实验结果进行了比较,发现低温下两种载流子对热电势和Hall系数的贡献比较类似,但在高温区空穴对热电势的贡献很大而相应地对Hall系数的贡献不占主要地位. 关键词： Sr2RuO4 热电势     

Universal heat transport in Sr2RuO4

We present the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity kappa(T) of the unconventional superconductor Sr2RuO4 down to low temperatures ( approximately 100 mK). In the T-->0 K limit we found a finite residual term in kappa/T, providing clear evidence for the superconducting state with an unconventional pairing. The residual term remains unchanged for samples with different T(c), demonstrating the universal character of heat transport in this spin-triplet superconductor. The low-temperature behavior of kappa suggests the strong impurity scattering with a phase shift close to pi/2. A criterion for the observation of universality is experimentally deduced.     

Change in oxygen concentration in Sr2RuO4 single crystals after laser processing

In order to check the possibility of realization of high-temperature superconductivity in strontium ruthenate, we studied experimentally the influence of laser radiation on single-crystal samples of Sr₂RuO₄. Results obtained by the technique of electron-probe X-ray microanalysis showed an enhancement of the oxygen concentration in the near-surface layer of samples, which may most probably be caused by the change in the ruthenium valence as a result of laser treatment.     

Photoemission quasiparticle spectra of Sr2RuO4

Multiband quasiparticle calculations based on perturbation theory and dynamical mean-field methods show that the creation of a photoemission hole state in Sr2RuO4 is associated with a highly anisotropic self-energy. Since the narrow Ru-derived d(xz,yz) bands are more strongly distorted by Coulomb correlations than the wide d(xy) band, charge is partially transferred from d(xz,yz) to d(xy), thereby shifting the d(xy) Van Hove singularity close to the Fermi level.     

Anisotropy of magnetothermal conductivity in Sr2RuO4

The dependence of in-plane and interplane thermal conductivities of Sr2RuO4 on temperature, as well as magnetic field strength and orientation, is reported. We found no notable anisotropy in the thermal conductivity for the magnetic field rotation parallel to the conducting plane in the whole range of experimental temperatures and fields, except in the vicinity of the upper critical field H(c2), where the anisotropy of the H(c2) itself plays a dominant role. This finding imposes strong constraints on the possible models of superconductivity in Sr2RuO4 and supports the existence of a superconducting gap with a line of nodes running orthogonal to the Fermi surface cylinder.     

Conductance spectroscopy of spin-triplet superconductors

We propose a novel experiment to identify the symmetry of superconductivity on the basis of theoretical results for differential conductance of a normal metal connected to a superconductor. The proximity effect from the superconductor modifies the conductance of the remote current depending remarkably on the pairing symmetry: spin singlet or spin triplet. The clear-cut difference in the conductance is explained by symmetry of Cooper pairs in a normal metal with respect to frequency. In the spin-triplet case, the anomalous transport is realized due to an odd-frequency symmetry of Cooper pairs.     

Non-fermi-liquid behavior in Sr2RuO4 with nonmagnetic impurities

We report that the quasi-two-dimensional Fermi-liquid behavior of the spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4 breaks down in the vicinity of the critical impurity concentration for the onset of magnetic order induced by nonmagnetic Ti4+ impurities. The non-Fermi-liquid behavior is interpreted in terms of the two-dimensional antiferromagnetic fluctuations, which arise mainly from the nesting within one of the Fermi-surface sheets. We argue against the main role of such magnetic fluctuations in the pairing mechanism.     

Evolution of Fermi-liquid interactions in Sr2RuO4 under pressure

We have measured the temperature and field dependence of the resistivity of the unconventional superconductor Sr2RuO4 at pressures up to 3.3 GPa. Using the Shubnikov-de Haas effect, we find that the Fermi surface sheet believed to be primarily responsible for superconductivity becomes more two-dimensional with increasing pressure, a surprising result that is, however, consistent with a recent model of orbital-dependent superconductivity in this system. Many-body enhancements and the superconducting transition temperature all fall gradually with increasing pressure, contrary to previous suggestions of a ferromagnetic quantum critical point at approximately 3 GPa.     

In-plane anisotropy of upper critical field in Sr2RuO4

We investigated the behavior of the spin-triplet superconductor Sr2RuO4 ( T(c) approximately 1.5 K) under the magnetic fields parallel to the quasi-two-dimensional plane. The upper critical field H(c2) exhibits a clear fourfold anisotropy of about 3% at 0.35 K. Furthermore, we detected an additional transition feature below H(c2) in both the ac susceptibility and the specific heat. These second-transition features as well as the pronounced in-plane H(c2) anisotropy disappear above 0.8 K or under intentional field misalignment of less than 1 degrees. Most of these characteristics are consistent with the predicted emergence of the second superconducting phase with a line-node gap.     

Spin-triplet superconductivity in Sr2RuO4 probed by andreev reflection

The superconducting gap function of Sr2RuO4 was investigated by means of quasiparticle reflection and transmission at the normal conductor-superconductor interface of Sr2RuO4-Pt point contacts. We found two distinctly different types of dV/dI vs V spectra either with a double-minimum structure or with a zero-bias conductance anomaly. Both types of spectra are expected in the limit of high and low transparency, respectively, of the interface barrier between a normal metal and a spin-triplet superconductor. Together with the temperature dependence of the spectra this result strongly supports a spin-triplet superconducting order parameter for Sr2RuO4.